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For anyone who wants to get as fit as possible in as little time as possible (frankly, who doesn’t?), a new study, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, will make you rethink your gym routine.

The study divided 72 women, 60-74 years of age, into three groups. Group one did one cardio and one weight-training workout per week. Group two doubled the workout volume, performing cardio and weight-training workouts twice a week. The third group exercised six times a week; three cardio and three weight-training workouts.

The women started out as exercise novices, but by the end of the 16-week study they had progressed from 20-minute workouts done at 67 per cent of their maximum heart rate to 40 minutes at 80 per cent of their maximum heart rate. Most of the cardio was done on a treadmill.

The weight-training workouts consisted of two sets of 10 exercises performed 10 times per exercise. They started lifting 60 per cent and progressed to 80 per cent of their maximum weight.

Surprisingly, after 16 weeks there was no significant difference in all measures of fitness among the three groups. Weight loss, increases in fat free mass (muscle), strength and aerobic capacity remained similar despite the differences in training volume.

Some of these results came as no surprise to the researchers, who speculated that the four-times-a-week and the six-times-a-week groups would achieve similar results — despite the difference in training volume.

This educated guess was based on previous findings suggesting that too many workouts per week boosted stress hormones, causing a decrease in motivation and strength and an increase in fatigue, all of which diminishes fitness gains. What they didn’t expect was that the group who exercised twice a week would prove to be just as strong and fit as the women who exercised two and three times more often.

Before you start dialing back your fitness commitment, keep in mind that all of the test subjects were older women. If the same study were done on a younger crowd and/or men, the results could be vastly different.

Understand, too, that the results could change dramatically if tested over a longer period of time than the four months this study was in progress. Novice exercisers post impressive fitness gains during the first few weeks of adopting a regular exercise routine. Unfortunately, those gains tend to level off over time with more experienced exercisers having to work harder to improve fitness.

That said, for middle-aged and older exercisers, the findings are promising, and not just in suggesting that impressive fitness results can be achieved in far less time than previously thought. What’s really interesting about the study is the information it offered about what happens outside of the gym.

The goal of this study was actually to monitor the number of calories we burn daily, both in and out of the gym, something that slows down significantly as we age.

What the researchers found was that working out four times a week increased daily calorie burn outside of the gym by 224 calories a day compared to the six-times-a-day group, which experienced a 192-calorie-per-day drop in non-exercising energy expenditure. Those who exercised twice a week burned 127 calories more daily outside of the gym.

The researchers suggested that the drop in energy expenditure among the six-times-a-week exercisers was because they were more sedentary during the hours they weren’t working out. This tendency to expend less energy outside of the gym wasn’t because of fatigue, as the group didn’t complain about a lack of energy, nor did their blood work show a physiological basis for fatigue. Nope, the researchers speculated that the frequent exercisers figured they got so much exercise in the gym that they could afford to put their feet up the rest of the week or that their workout schedule kept them too busy for any other active pursuits.

So what does this study tell us?

Well, it suggests more exercise isn’t always the answer when it comes to improving fitness and daily calorie burn. And it reinforces the fact that what you do outside the gym is just as important as what you do at the gym. So if you’re like the average person who spends 60 per cent of waking hours sedentary, you’ll need to add more movement to your day.

It also suggests that the debate regarding how much exercise is enough is ongoing. That said, workout volume is largely determined by your goals, which can be as divergent as losing weight, improving flexibility, gaining strength and winning an Olympic medal. So don’t wait around for a one-size-fits-all number.

Finally, it’s a worthy reminder that study results can’t be applied to all ages and fitness abilities. And there’s no guarantee that results over the long term will match those achieved in the short term. Still, one more study confirming the fact that more exercise doesn’t mean better results is good news for just about everyone.

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